‘Strangely Quiet’ Scene As Bush Visits Base Where Medically-Unfit Troops Were Deployed
‘Strangely Quiet’ Scene As Bush Visits Base Where Medically-Unfit Troops Were Deployed
Yesterday, President Bush visited Fort Irwin, California, the main desert training camp where most U.S. soldiers are sent before deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. Bush told the troops:
Ours is a remarkable country when people volunteer to serve our country in a time of war. The amazing thing about our United States military is thousands and thousands have signed up knowing full well that we’re a nation at war. The government didn’t say, you have to do this, you chose to do it on your own. You decided to put your country ahead of self in many ways.
That message must have resonated in a unique way for some of the soldiers present. As Salon.com’s Mark Benjamin reported recently, Fort Irwin is where some soldiers with debilitating injuries and other medical conditions, including female soldiers who were pregnant, were deployed for weeks:
Hernandez is one of a dozen soldiers who stayed for weeks in those tents who were interviewed for this report, some of whose medical records were also reviewed by Salon. All of the soldiers said they had no business being sent to Fort Irwin given their physical condition. In some cases, soldiers were sent there even though their injuries were so severe that doctors had previously recommended they should be considered for medical retirement from the Army.
Military experts say they suspect that the deployment to Fort Irwin of injured soldiers was an effort to pump up manpower statistics used to show the readiness of Army units. With the military increasingly strained after four years of war, Army readiness has become a critical part of the debate over Iraq.
As Steve Benen noted, Bush’s remarks to the soldiers yesterday hardly produced the rally-like atmosphere of years past. Reuters reported that troops “sat quietly at their lunch tables, some joined by family members, as Bush spoke.” The Houston Chronicle’s Julie Mason described the event as “less than a rally, more than a stare-down,” and said the troops were “strangely quiet.”
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guilt-trippin’ them into silence. That’s the sign of bold, brave leadership.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:30 pmSo they want to surrender too?
April 5th, 2007 at 5:31 pmI wonder if this is what we will begin to see soon, not only with troop gatherings, but also at speeches and media events. What will this administration do when they go to speak in a public arena and the audience just sits there quietly?
April 5th, 2007 at 5:35 pmhe even had the nerve to resurrect the old “oceans don’t protect us” line…
hey, nico - are you on scarborough every night???
April 5th, 2007 at 5:36 pmi may have to start watching that creep - YOU are very good!
DON’T EVER BACK DOWN!
Mr. President:
“You decided to put your self ahead of country in many ways.”
April 5th, 2007 at 5:36 pm“The government didn’t say, you have to do this, you chose to do it on your own. You decided to put your country ahead of self in many ways.”
And once you make that choice then you have no choice unless you die or lose a limb.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:36 pmSo they want to surrender too?
Comment by Patrick1 — April 5, 2007 @ 5:31 pm
Your place in hell is solidly reserved for you. So now you admit you don’t support the troops, finally one true statement out of you.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:36 pmThe troops were quiet only because they are forbidden to BOO the President.
I hope we see more of this from troops and the general public.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:36 pmThey will think it is Hillary Clinton, wait they boo when she speaks.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:37 pmRepuke trolls should shut up and sign up. Enlist for Iraq.
Otherwise, you’re chickenhawks and have nothing to say here.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:38 pmOh that there was a bold dissenter among them to throw food or something at him. $10 says they cleared all the wounded soldiers from possible camera view.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:38 pmThe only reason the soldiers sat quietly was because they are noble, brave people respecting their Commander in Chief. It would be nice if Bush showed them the respect they deserve and not use them for photo ops.
Bush couldn’t throw out the first pitch at a baseball game because the average American would boo him out of there.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:39 pmThe troll is insulting our brave troops.
He is obviously a traitor and supports Osama.
Go back to Afghanistan, troll.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:39 pmGood speech from a so called man who was so scared and drunk he had his Daddy get him out before his fellow soldiers went to Vietnam. What a great example of leadership. Do as I say not as I do. Cheney couldn’t give that speech either as Cheney could only talk about how to get 5 deferments and hide behind his wife. Even the troops know Bush is full of it as he uses them to get money while not really taking care of them. It’s all about that blank check nothing else matters. Billions of our troops could die as long as Congress keeps feeding those blank checks. Bush/Cheney wouldn’t combat until it was on a video game. Real men/women don’t listen to cowards and that is what Bush/Cheney are cowards and liars.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:40 pmis that picture from the event?
q. why is dubya the ONLY one smiling?
a. ignorance is bliss
April 5th, 2007 at 5:42 pmThey will think it is Hillary Clinton, wait they boo when she speaks.
Comment by Patrick1 — April 5, 2007 @ 5:37 pm
Better sober up, nobody knows what this sentence means, asswipe.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:43 pmFunny, I know Marines that have already donated to her campaign. Care to go back to asking if our soldiers “ready to surrender”…?
BTW, what branch did you serve in and when precisely?
Jack-off.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:43 pm“Strangely quiet”-no, not at all. As Tom3 says, Bush was lucky he was not booed by his base. Perhaps, just perhaps, the military are finally waking up to the fact that they were used by this administration for their own illicit ends. These troops need more Lt. Watadas to tell them that silence is no longer an option.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:44 pmNone of the soldiers in the photo look very happy,
April 5th, 2007 at 5:44 pmthe one whom Dubious is resting his right arm on appears to have his eyes closed…
…he has the look of the child being touched by the creepy relative………..
We are constantly walking on egg shells wondering just WTF this Bastard is going to do next. It should not be this way - It is supposed to be WE the PEOPLE, FOR the PEOPLE, BY the PEOPLE…
April 5th, 2007 at 5:47 pmJackie Rawlings at #14
Well said. I hope that the troops [finally] realize to what lengths Bush and Cheney went to in order avoid their patriotic duty while they hypocritically urge their fellow citizens to lay their lives on the line. As you correctly point out, with this administration it is a case of do as I say, not as I do.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:48 pmThe guy whom Bush is touching has a similar expression as Angela Merkel did when she received the unwelcome Bush shoulder rub.
I think he’s about to puke.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:48 pmWhat would be the troops reaction if he suddenly announced plans for an invasion into Iran or Syria?
April 5th, 2007 at 5:48 pmI’m sorry, but I am beginning to lose respect for anyone who repeatedly responds to Patrick1. His one function is to inflame and you oblige him beautifully ….again and again and again.
He/it/She is not worthy of a response
April 5th, 2007 at 5:50 pmOl’ Patrick1 is too busy supporting his fellow NeoCon Chickenhawks to actually sign up. After all, he and his kind talk the talk but can’t walk the walk…. just like their heroes, Darth Cheney, Rummy and DUbya. Sorry excuses for Americans, every one of them!!
April 5th, 2007 at 5:51 pmI know we aren’t supposed to feed the trolls.
But sometimes I can’t resist bashing them.
They’re such easy targets. They’re inbred morons.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:52 pmAnd….Patrick1 usually only has to comment at the beginning of thread to spread it’s stink bomb over the remainder of the post. Use your heads guys….seriously. IGNORE THAT TROLL AND POSTS SIMILAR. THERE IS NO SUBSTANCE TO RESPOND TO. YOU CANNOT WIN.
Why are so many intelligent people so drawn in by one snotty question or flame remark?
April 5th, 2007 at 5:56 pmThe Iraqi Govt. has made NO PROGRESS on how to divide Iraq’s oil revenues,and No Progress on letting former Bath Party members rejoin the government, since the surge started. The surge was supposed to give the Govt. of Iraq the “breathing room” to find a Political solution. Our troops have to wonder where all this is heading, as they redeploy to Iraq.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:56 pmTom3,
Yes, but they are the Repug’s inbred morons!! And they are so proud of them, too!
April 5th, 2007 at 5:57 pmThought bubble from soldier whose shoulder Bush is resting his hand on: “Must use all powers to resist training not to grab hand, twist arm off, and shove it up this deserting peckerwood’s arse”.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:58 pmit’s one thing to refute the trolls bullshite, another to actually engage them…
the first is an obligation, the 2nd is a waste…
*
randi had a good message at signoff:
EVERYBODY NEEDS TO PRAY, MEDITATE, WHATEVER -
April 5th, 2007 at 6:01 pmBUT TOGETHER WE NEED TO SEND THE MESSAGE
THAT THERE SHOULD BE NO WAR IN IRAN TOMORROW...
[or ever… anywhere…]
…
I will lay you odds that, once Georgie leaves office, he never sets foot on a military base again in his life.
April 5th, 2007 at 6:01 pm#30 Maybe he will go on some Paraguay bases, when he is in Exile there.
April 5th, 2007 at 6:04 pmOnce Georgie leaves office he will never step foot in other country either.
April 5th, 2007 at 6:05 pmSo they want to surrender too?
Comment by Patrick1 — April 5, 2007 @ 5:31 pm
YOU MAY want to watch what you say about soldiers who are serving to give you the liberties that you so proudly utilize…
If not for them, YOUR COWARDLY *ss would be crying about the opression you have to face every day…
Some people need to be b*tch slapped, and YOU are a prime candidate!
April 5th, 2007 at 6:07 pmSoon he won’t even be able to use troops as props.
Can’t wait to see bush strapped to a chair and gagged at the Hague as they read off the charges. Then the same troops he’s been sending into an illegal occupation can testify against him.
Let’s see him smile then.
April 5th, 2007 at 6:09 pmeverything Chimpy touches turns to s**t. Therefore, the soldier whom Bush is appears to be leaning on doesn’t have a bright future.
April 5th, 2007 at 6:15 pmSetting a leave date does not mean not supporting the troops. I support the timeline for the war; we need some sense and structure in Iraq. Mostly, I agree with setting a timeline because the $340 billion spent in the Iraq debacle can be utilized in beneficial ways. According to the Borgen Project, a group that is lobbying political leaders to support the UN Millennium Development Goals, just a fraction of the military budget can end starvation, provide education for every child in the world and reverse the spread of Malaria and AIDS annually. We need leadership that will be progressive in tackling major issues in the world.
Supporting the troops means to make sure they are fighting a just war. One that has structure and purpose with a realistic plan.
April 5th, 2007 at 6:25 pmSupporting the troops means to make sure they are fighting a just war. One that has structure and purpose with a realistic plan.
Comment by euni84
Even if a miracle occurs, and structure, purpose, and a realistic plan are achieved — the Iraq War is not a just war.
Support the troops. Bring them home NOW.
April 5th, 2007 at 6:30 pmrandi had a good message at signoff:
EVERYBODY NEEDS TO PRAY, MEDITATE, WHATEVER -
BUT TOGETHER WE NEED TO SEND THE MESSAGE
THAT THERE SHOULD BE NO WAR IN IRAN TOMORROW…
[or ever… anywhere…]
…
Comment by katy
agree…..
I have often thought how this mass conscience thought process could work in other ways….
April 5th, 2007 at 6:31 pmBush is lucky they did not frag his sorry ass.
patrick1; so you now think the troops are ’surrender monkeys’? Go enlist now you f*cking pussy! You can be man enough to win the war ALL by yourself.
Tom3 & IraqVet; f*cking a-straight man. Let’s drive that wuss patrick1 out of here.
April 5th, 2007 at 6:32 pmSo the shine is wearing off our poser in chief. It’s about time. He’s been using troops as photo ops and then turning around and screwing them for way too long.
April 5th, 2007 at 6:37 pmGeorge W. Bush will not be sitting in the docket at the Hague. What do you think that 98,000 acre “ranch” is for in Paraquay? It’s the worst-case end-game for a war criminal.
April 5th, 2007 at 6:38 pm[…] Some are too injured to wear their body armor, according to medical records. See also here. […]
April 5th, 2007 at 6:39 pmTom3 & IraqVet; f*cking a-straight man. Let’s drive that wuss patrick1 out of here.
THAT would be wrong, but HE CAN’T BE A MAN until HE SEES A MAN! Too bad he is living by faith, instead of reality…
Because a REAL MAN could convey to him that it is reality that is an xtension of his faith. Otherwise, he could simply pray the enemies away and it would be so. Alas, this proves that his faith is not as stong as it needs to be, because if memory serves me correctly:
He needs faith the size of a mustard seed….
I trust in God to help man make better decisions and have faith that someday my prayers will be answered to stop all of this turmoil. But I am grounded by reality in knowing that we have a REPUBLICAN party that ONLY speaks about supporting the troops, as long as they have NO RISK in doing so! While the standard bearers for FREEDOM and LIBERTY happens to be the ones he always berates…
In that regard, Patrick1 is a PUNK, COWARD, and closet HOMOSEXUAL! He needs all the faith he can muster to run away from that TRUTH!!!
April 5th, 2007 at 6:52 pm“The government didn’t say, you have to do this, you chose to do it on your own.”
I would suggest that if the fool had gone one step farther and said “Any of you that want to change your mind may leave for home now.” the room would have been empty before he drew another lying breath.
April 5th, 2007 at 6:58 pmIraqVet; I do believe that patrick1 has NO balls. Like all the other cowardly chickenhawks, they are gung-ho for war, but only if someone else is in the fight. Just like the draft-dodging leaders they blindly follow.
April 5th, 2007 at 7:00 pmNews Bulletin NBC: 12,000 National Guard troops to be deployed. Order is awaiting Gates’ signature.
April 5th, 2007 at 7:04 pmThe additional 12,000 is IN ADDITION to the 21,000 of the “surge.”
April 5th, 2007 at 7:05 pmProbably to be deployed to Iran…
April 5th, 2007 at 7:13 pmStrangely quiet huh?
I bet he gets that a lot at parties too.
April 5th, 2007 at 7:15 pm“The government didn’t say, you have to do this, you chose to do it on your own. You decided to put your country ahead of self in many ways.â€
April 5th, 2007 at 7:26 pmAnd after this, you will never volunteer for anything again.
Bushiva posed with soldiers…
…some with weapons…
…wanna bet they weren’t allowed to carry live ammo?
April 5th, 2007 at 7:35 pmZooey at #36
Very well said. One wonders when liberals will finally realize that it is not unpatriotic to call for the immediate withdrawal of those troops, who are fighting for a less than noble cause, from that quagmire in Iraq. As you say, bring them home- safely- now.
April 5th, 2007 at 7:37 pmAlways using the military as a backdrop.
Always wearing a blue tie.
Always smirking.
Always a liar.
April 5th, 2007 at 8:00 pmThis is good news. When the troops are “strangely quiet”, the Cum-hander-in-Chief has reason to worry. These men and women who are supposed to respect him are fed-up with being treated like shit and won’t be duped any longer. After all, who wants to become cannon-fodder in a “war” based on neo-con lies and deception?
April 5th, 2007 at 8:04 pmI sincerely doubt that many service members are among the 30% or so that think this war is actually FOR something, other than the cynical wealth-grubbing by friends of the despicable current administration. Instead, I should think a good number of these bright people might feel insulted by the use and abuse they receive from the White House on a daily basis.
Though strangely quiet, a lot of resentment resides in the silence.
When Gen. Petraeus was asked last nite by Jim Lehrer if the Democrats Iraq position was harming or undercutting the troops…he wouldn’t touch the issue with a ten foot pole. He was strangely silent about a position directly in opposition to the troop increase he is in charge of. He has recognized a change in the political wind…even if President Bush has not.
April 5th, 2007 at 8:15 pm“Strangely Quiet”, EH? HOW WOULD CHIMPya LIKE A LOUD AND EMPHATIC THROWING OF LEFTOVER SCRAPS, GARBAGE AND SHIT INTO THE FACE OF HIM WHO IS THE commander-in-THIEF FOR TREATING THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS WITH INDIFFERENCE AND CALLOUS DISREGARD EXCEPT WHEN IT COMES TIME FOR THE ALL-IMPORTANT Bushland Uber Allies PHOTO-OP?????
April 5th, 2007 at 8:40 pmSOLDIERS OF THE AMERICAN MILITARY ARE TOO NOBLE TO TREAT THE commander-in-THIEF CHIMPya WITH ANYTHING MORE RADICAL THAN BEING “strangely quiet”—WHAT I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED IS THEIR PELTING THIS CREEP CHIMPya WITH LEFTOVER FOOD SCRAPS AND EXCREMENT RIGHT IN HIS INANE, GRINNING CHIMP-FACE!!!! SPLAP!!!!!
April 5th, 2007 at 8:56 pmThis may be the last appearance by the chimp in front of the Troops. It must be very hard to follow the rules for some of these brave slodiers.I would expect them to boo or turn their backs on the puss in boots. By shunning the Texass Ass the Troops could at least salvage a portion of self respect.
April 5th, 2007 at 9:01 pmThe military is on the verge of a rebellion against Bush, but he is too stupid to notice that most soldiers hate him now.
April 5th, 2007 at 9:16 pmTHE TROOPS HATE CHIMPya—HE IS TOAST, AND BURNT AT THAT!!!
April 5th, 2007 at 9:29 pm#26 Why are so many intelligent people so drawn in by one snotty question or flame remark?
Sorry, s, I disagree. I think most libs can multi-task. Bit$h slap the troll and posting intelligent comments are not mutually exclusive. You aren’t going to stop troll-baiting so don’t waste your energy.
April 5th, 2007 at 10:19 pmThought bubble from soldier whose shoulder Bush is resting his hand on: “Damn! And I just had this uniform cleaned! Now it’s going to smell like sulpher for a month!”
April 5th, 2007 at 11:13 pmI’m surprised the soldiers weren’t ordered to cheer and applaud.
Then again, I also wonder if they had to take security precautions to make sure no soldier had any ammo….wouldn’t want the Commander-in-Chief fragged….would we???
April 5th, 2007 at 11:16 pmMeanwhile, back at the surge:
That also means any non-U.S. citizen who helps this organization could be sent to Guantanamo and held as an “alien unlawful enemy combatant” for the rest of his or her natural life without a hearing nor a trial.
It’s no wonder America is so “beloved” around the world.
April 5th, 2007 at 11:25 pm#59 Maybe they were, BnF. If that were the case, he received a huge insult.
April 5th, 2007 at 11:38 pmI’m married to a captain at fort irwin and was there for the lunch. What is being reported is a lie! We were quiet out of respect for the presidents speech. At the beginning and the end we were all screaming and applauding. absolutely bull shit what is being reported
April 6th, 2007 at 12:26 amComment by jenny hansen — April 6, 2007 @ 12:26 am
Do you have any corraboration for your claim? Sorry, but there is an abundance of posters here who only spout Rovian talking points to be able to take you at face value.
April 6th, 2007 at 12:52 am#62 Jenny, that is interesting. A lie, but interesting. If it was “respect” then I guess the prior speeches with the troops whooping and hollering were disrespectful?
April 6th, 2007 at 1:33 amI think jenny hansen is chock-full-o-Bushit…
…the corporate owned MSM would NEVER miss an opportunity…
…to show rabid right wing inbreds…
…worshipping their glorious fuhrer…
…with all the fervor their TREASONOUS, idiotic a*ses can muster…
…not even a “nice try” jenny…
April 6th, 2007 at 2:56 am[…] Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/05/bush-fort-irwin/ […]
April 6th, 2007 at 5:53 amSilence as a tactic: Seattle Wobblies 1919 greeted Woodrow Wilson’s parade with silence. Some stories have it block after block, but I recall that it was one solid block on 4th Avenue. Wobbly tradition has it that that led to Wilson’s heart attack soon after. “Don’t mourn. Organize!”
April 6th, 2007 at 9:02 am“Hi, I’m George Bush. I lied to send our country to war, chose to send you to the war undermanned and ill-equipped, and you fought anyway. When you got shot and came home, I vetoed your doctors’ recommendations to be discharged and sent you back to the base, and now I’m hear to talk about how important my needs are.”
“Let’s hear a big yee-hahhh!”
April 6th, 2007 at 9:22 amjenny hansen you are a blatant liar.
April 6th, 2007 at 1:08 pmcheck your ruck sack at the door, you can see the proof on the guys faces.
If the Dems are too feckless for impeachment, I suppose there’s always the option of a military coup.
April 6th, 2007 at 2:03 pmJenny - I believe you! Why would you have a reason to lie? If anyone has a reason to want this war to end - it would be you. Disregard the people here who who rely on half truths and deliberate lies to undermine our country. They have been doing so with their “libertine social agenda” - (right bigDaddy?) - for the last 40 years. Express my thanks to your husband and his troops.
April 6th, 2007 at 6:07 pmI can’t even stand to see his stupid smirk anymore! I don’t even think he has the sense to realize his lies. From the environment all the way to the soldiers~ he’s screwed everything.
April 6th, 2007 at 8:09 pmThe day Bush is out of office is the day I’ll dance like crazy in a red dress with the biggest smile and sense of relief!
Bush sucks!
‘Strangely Quiet’ Scene As Bush Visits Base Where Medically-Unfit Troops Were Deployed…
As Steve Benen noted, Bush’s remarks to the soldiers yesterday hardly produced the rally-like atmosphere of years past. Reuters reported that troops “sat quietly at their lunch tables, some joined by family members, as Bush spoke.†The Houston Ch…
April 6th, 2007 at 10:41 pmAnytime’ s a good time for a photo op and press run….
April 6th, 2007 at 11:02 pmHow much longer will we stand by and watch this fiasco called the Bush administration go on? How much longer?
April 6th, 2007 at 11:12 pmIn response to number 31 - FOR TRUTH, yes he will leave this country in a flash, he has huge land holdings in paraguay in south america. Do research on this and you will find it. Jay
April 6th, 2007 at 11:47 pmWhat next? Will Bush be doing a smiling Photo Op with Tomb Stones?
April 6th, 2007 at 11:56 pmAnother thing, nobody on the News or any other place I have read says anything about how many countries are switching or planning to switch from dollars to Euro’s. China, Venezuela, Iran, and how many others are talking about it now. The oil has just went up to $70 dollars a barrel again, isn’t that just lovely. Iran has just reduced its dollars to the lowest level it can which is 20 percent. I believe this is the reason we may go into Iran, just like we went into Iraq when Saddam switch to Euro’s.
April 6th, 2007 at 11:57 pmYes, let’s have a shot of the little king at Arlington, yukking it up that “…No, no WMD’s here…”
April 7th, 2007 at 12:01 ameuni84 # 35
Good message and I totally agree except that the cost so far is more like $414,931,000,000, but even that number is deceptively low because it only accounts for things we have already paid for and that are directly related to the war. For instance it doesn’t account for the fact that the war is deficit-financed and the taxpayers will have to pay for additional interest because of it. It also doesn’t account for future medical care for the soldiers fighting in the war and similar expenses.
April 7th, 2007 at 12:43 amSilence is golden! I think it is time for impeachment..George Bush is the absolute worse president ever! He is destroying this country and there are simply no words for his misuse of the military. I voted for Georgie in 2000 and I deeply regret my vote.
April 7th, 2007 at 12:55 amhis impeache will be by popular demand. he will declare martial law and disolve the congress and senate under a provision of the patRiot act included at 2AM by Arlen Sphincter.
April 7th, 2007 at 1:23 am____
oops! I meant “impeachment”
April 7th, 2007 at 1:24 amWHO IS WEARING THE BLUE DRESS NOW?
http://www.senate.gov/
April 7th, 2007 at 2:10 amGo to this site… write your senators Dem and GOP… let them know how you feel. I send the bastards (mine are GOP drones) a dozen notes a week in every category they allow. If the senator doesn’t get the point at least I know his staff is reading it.
“I will lay you odds that, once Georgie leaves office, he never sets foot on a military base again in his life.”
He might, when he scuttles off to Paraguay. They have something of a history of welcoming Nazi mass-murderers there.
April 7th, 2007 at 2:14 amJenny Hansen said:
“I’m married to a captain at fort irwin and was there for the lunch. What is being reported is a lie! We were quiet out of respect for the presidents speech. At the beginning and the end we were all screaming and applauding. absolutely bull shit what is being reported”
Since you have given your name, would you be so kind as to tell us your husband’s name so we can verify your claim that he is a Captain at Fort Irwin?
Your story does not ring true. At every other speech Bush has given in front of troops which I’ve seen, the soldiers cheered DURING the speech. Suddenly that’s “disrespectful?” Not buying.
Please supply your husband’s name so we can check to see if what you told us is true. You don’t have any problem with that, right, “Jenny Hansen?”
April 7th, 2007 at 2:36 am‘Strangely quiet” - that IS the way the military boos. You cannot argue with a superior officer and you cannot call him names or anything, so the way you express volumes is to say nothing. He does not know it but they handed him his *** right there, by saying nothing.
April 7th, 2007 at 2:36 amI guess the troops don’t support the president and the war, meaning that they hate the troops (i.e. themselves).
April 7th, 2007 at 2:43 amThe Bush crowd seems to think of the military in abstract, rather than human, terms. Their class privilige has divorced them from the realities of military service. In their minds, “Democracy” and “Christianity” are fighting “Terrorism” and “Radical Islam.”
News flash, boys and girls: underequipped, underrepresented American citizens are fighting an array of hostiles. The blood is real.
This is why military service should be deeply considered before choosing our leaders.
Bush and Cheney dodged serving when they had teh chance. McCain, Kerry, and Murtha put their lives on the line–not for some abstract idea, but for their fellow citizens.
April 7th, 2007 at 3:31 ama quick Yahoo check found that there is a Jenny Hansen, married to a Captain Brian Hansen and he was stationed there last Oct. He is/was attached to 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. So she may very well be telling the truth about being there. But it’s all opinion of why they were sitting there quietly.
Hopefully the “War on Terror” is over before her little “ninja turtle” is also serving.
April 7th, 2007 at 5:18 amunhappy soldiers = unhappy superiors
April 7th, 2007 at 5:52 amunhappy superiors = unhappy generals
unhappy generals = possible coup
These unfortunate Legionaries should thank the Gods
Decimation is out of fashion. When Antony’s Legions
Booed him, he had every 10th head on a spike, brought
to him before dinner. But the poor Bastards are on their
way to the Front. So they have earned the privilege.
New Orwellian phrase: Perpetual Surge.
April 7th, 2007 at 6:56 amOne of my friends’ boyfriend is in the US Army and was injured when deployed to Iraq. He recently went to Walter Reed for treatment. He had to wait around for two days, because his doctors postponed his appointment two days since president gw bush was visiting the facility.
April 7th, 2007 at 7:18 amYou saw the real bu$h on 9-11-01 when he first sat frozen like a lump on a log then hopped on Air Force One and ran like a scared rabbit. The school yard bully has always hidden behind his mommy, his daddy, their friends and now the U.S. military. Are you really surprised that this coward is still using the troops to try to make himself look good. He is still AWOL from the Texas National Guard. He should finally be prosecuted as the criminal & traitor he is but I won’t hold my breath waiting on that event.
April 7th, 2007 at 7:48 amThe article should be titled, “Finally I see the emperor has no clothers really has no clothes.:
April 7th, 2007 at 7:50 amKind of explains why Bush didn’t attend a single opening day Major League baseball game. Fans can boo, soldiers cannot.
April 7th, 2007 at 8:07 amAttention - Jenny Hansen
what is your husbands MOS. Give me the training he has gotten by name for proof that he is a Captain. I have relatives that were at the lunch. I know what happened. I know it was a photo -op. I know they don’t want to go as many stated so to each other. AND they were quiet. Further, they realize that this is abuse to the military by Bush.
Jenny Hansen you are a blatant LIAR!
April 7th, 2007 at 8:23 amA parent
This is one joke of a President. Was he always this dumb?
April 7th, 2007 at 9:54 amIs Ratprick 1 going to enlist?
April 7th, 2007 at 11:05 amThis all harkens back to the last days of Hitler’s desperate final battles in WW II. With his armies totally depleted of young men to fight, Hitler had young boys sent to fight the last conflicts. IN addition they even sent civilians with weapons as a last ditch attempt to stave off the allied forces invading Berlin. Delusional propaganda was dispersed to drive theese last fighters to their impending deaths. Bush has played right into AlQaeda’s playbook (Read “Management of Savagry”) and sent the American army and financial resources into Iraq and drained this nation of those vital things. Bush is the most disastrous fool to have walked this planet.
April 7th, 2007 at 11:18 amdon’t make the postt relative to the dead as I have emailed an active senator who is digging into this info.
April 7th, 2007 at 11:18 amthanks
a military parent
“The government didn’t say, you have to do this, you chose to do it on your own. You decided to put your country ahead of self in many ways.”
Yeah right Bush… you’re too much of a stinking coward to go there and fight yourself, ya lilly-livered p’TaQ… gotta send young people to fight and get horribly injured or die for your dreams of empire.
Well better start watching yer back bunkie… the night of the long knives is coming soon… and you’re the #1 target
April 7th, 2007 at 12:45 pmthe problem with our form of government is that we are indeed stuck with this gentleman plus dick cheney until nearly another two more years. if we could do a “no confidence” vote and have them resign immediately, it might make us all feel more secure — even the fiscal conservatives would vote no confidence. they are as disillsioned as the left with his budget policies. no one has the somach for impeachment after the attempt to get rid of clinton plus the process is just too slow.
April 7th, 2007 at 1:41 pmthe additional problem we are facing in this country is that the overall military is being completely destroyed from the mis- management by rumsfeld and the neglect (out of ignorance and laziness) by geo bush. who would want to serve under the lack of intelligent leadership by this group there now. hopefully gates can turn things around. i am a pacifist and very anti-war but even i cannot stomach what this fellow is doing to our national defense. if we did away with our military and replaced it with a cadre of peace corps units around the world to do peace projects to help underdeveloped countries living standards of their people i would like that but he isn’t doing that (more the opposite) and he lacks any vision to even attempt it on any scale.
this country is doomed at this point because of the worst president we could ever have imagined. i am hopeful that we can turn things around but it will not be easy or painless. despite christ’s shed blood for our sins we will have to suffer the consequences of our errant ways for electing this incompetent person. and suffer for maybe generations because the majority in our nation have done so out intentionally through either approving of his policies or choosing to look the other way. god help us all.
I have noticed one thing that most poeple that support Bush have never serverd in the miltary or have not been into combat. Or are right wingend neocons who are pro life, for the death penalty, and pro war.
April 7th, 2007 at 2:29 pmThey also like to shove thier so called morality down everyone elses throught.
[…] ‘Strangely Quiet’ Scene As Bush Visits Base Where Medically-Unfit Troops Were Deployed Think Progress 4/5/07 […]
April 7th, 2007 at 3:28 pmThe comments came from a pile of dog poop who never served his country in fact Bush is still AWOL!
April 7th, 2007 at 5:30 pmBecause of his lies over 3,300 soldiers are dead and for what? For the oil Bush & Cheney intend to steal for Exxon, Mobil, Shell, BP Amoco, Chevron!
This damned Iraq War for OIL PROFITEERS$$, and WAR/Terroris$m-9/11 Attacks$(”somehow” allowed for 2 plus hours, by “Pres$ident” Bus$h and NORAD, on that most EVIL Date, in American History)-PROFITEERS$$, is tearing me apart as a Citizen, but as a veteran too, (am “ancient,” got out “way back” in 1981) I just can’t begin to IMAGINE what our soldiers, and yes the “Private”{MASS$IVELY PAID[off-], by we the US TAXPAYERS$$ and Citizens) are now “thinking” about this damned war for IRAQ’s OIL WELLS$$, etcetera, in IRAQ, and what that Poor guy is thinking on, whilst “King” Georgie Junior BUS$H plants his useless body and “mind” on that POOR GUY’S Soldier, yet too, I want BADLY to see far more of our troops, our PEOPLKE, our FELLOW CITIZENS, give this “elected” “Pres$ident” this kind of “reception,” anbd for them to REFUSE to Re-DEPLOY to IRAQ, to that ever-suffering “Nation-Stae,” after our MAD Invasion-Occupation of HER PEOPLE’S Land and OIL-FIELDS$$$$, … regardless of the CONSEQUENCES that they would then face–and I KNOW that sounds brave and “showy-vicious” on my Part, LONG past out of the Service, etcetera, I have been thrown out of a VA Hospital(even WALTER reed’s, etcetera’s vast ABUSE of our returning, and SUFFERING Heroes, these FELLOW AMERICAN Mena and Women-CITIZENS[and soldiers] does NOT ever STOP where HARRY S. TRUMAN’s “BUCK STOPS,” at this PRES$IDENT’s DESK and RESPONSIBILITIES?! God Help Us, and these, ALS$O, Profiteering, TRAITOROUS$ Bastards$, in our “Major” “NEWS$$,” Media!!) for criticizing this damned war, STILL gotta get even more ACTIVE, my own PTSDisorder, manic-Deprressive hearing “Voices,” Symptoms, no longer e-NUFF, of an excuse for me to desert from our poor, DYING, ever-suffering KIDS, our PEOPLE(yes, that even includes you “Private” Contractors$$, only sign up for NO MORE WARS!! Wars are NOT supposed yto be at ALL, “for PROFITS$$,” for DEMOCRACY, human Rights, AMERICA’s own Natl. Security and her peoples’ SAFETY, yes, but NOT for the ORRUPTING CRIMINAL Influences$$$, of this FOR-PROFIT and OIL WELLSS$$, Damned, and DAMNED CRIMINAL IRAQ WAR, and yes we Should have well-learned by NOW from LBJ’s, etcetera’s LIES$ re: that damned VIETNAM WAR CRIME, against those FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS, in South-east Asia, Iraq’s$$ Mass$$ deaths$ now occurring in South-WEST Asia, IE the Middle East. God Help Us. And “Happy” Easter to follow, to ALL, Ester is supposed to SIGNIFY ‘Re-birth,” as In lord Jesus’s(The Prince, of PEACE, in Human History!) Resurrection, only, HOW TO “Re-Birth” Re-energize, the Anti Iraq war movement, and bring our people SAFELY, HOME(even in the Democratic CONGRESS’s “Timetable” Bill, US Forces would STILL remain, fighting “indefinately” in ANTI-TERROR, and Anti-Al Queda{etcetera] operations, and it would all be a safely done, PHASED Pull-out, though replacing Our Troops with PEACEKEEPERS, from Arabic and Muslim, etcetera, NATIONS, would be THE next Great idea, to be logically undertaken, by Congress, and THE UN, etcetera, even with this current “Elected” Pres$idency,” of “ours$$$$”. Nonethless, happy Easter, Peace on Earth to ALL, especially in IRAQ, IRAN, Syria, etcetera, may all Guns “somehow” go SILENT, forever. GOD HELP US, Now, Please.
April 7th, 2007 at 7:45 pmWhat an Ignorant, Arrogant Sack of Crap this Toad is.
I am no longer proud to be from a country that is, now, the Most Hated AND Feared nation on Earth… I am ashamed.
April 8th, 2007 at 12:13 amHave read ALL comments—couldn’t stop—like listening through a key hole and trying not. I found many expressing the disbelief, hurt and rage that I am feeling everyday as I go about trying to live a life that will make a difference. I can’t imagine how I would react if I were still in uniform, knowing what I now know. Thank goodness my time of unquestioning loyalty was short lived, and long before this ill-conceived “war against terrorists”. I was against the war BEFORE the invasion and was shocked that so many sat silently and watched it happen, including, and most importantly, our media. With its help, Bush and the boys were able to use fear to further their agenda and invade a country without just cause. I have watched in horror as 1,000’s of innocent people have been killed in the name of “our war for our freedoms”. I have watched in horror as Americans by the thousands have bought this crap and not questioned its validity. I have to wonder if they want to remain ignorant to remain ignorant, or if they really do believe the lies that drip from the lips of Bush and the boys on a regular basis. How can the truth not be seen, and how many innocent lives must be lost before the threshold of wrong is reached? I hope that we, as a country, can overcome this massive wrong we are engaged in, and somehow put ourselves back together again. I fear that it will take a long time to heal the wounds of this illegal war, but can only hope that its lessons of fear overruling thought will have been learned and never forgotten. I cannot support lies. I cannot stand by while billions of dollars are being stolen by corporations in the name of homeland security, and remain silent. I cannot watch as wrong is being done and not say anything. Whatever that makes me in the eyes of these so-called “patriots”, so be it.
April 8th, 2007 at 10:35 amPerhaps the troops who are being used for the enrichment of Bush and his ilk are beginning to see what is happening to them. I feel that once the troops start taking up arms against their “leaders” military and civilian they will still be used and toss aside as always. With the Walter Reed Hospital scandals and the making GI’s pay back their sign-on bonuses it is obvious that they are all expendible as we were in Vietnam.
April 8th, 2007 at 10:39 amLook at the photo accompanying this article. The only one smiling is Bush!
April 8th, 2007 at 10:42 amI screwed up my statememt in my 10:39 am comment.
I feel that things won’t change until the troops start taking up arms against their “leaders†military and civilian until then they will still be used and toss aside as always.
April 8th, 2007 at 10:48 amThis is a pathetic photo op by Bush. Has he no sense of decency. It’s to the point that he can only appear to audiences that have to applaud him, the military services. The troops can be ordered to applaud and adore Bush, to do otherwise is failure to obey an order.
April 8th, 2007 at 2:32 pmBush & Cheny are determined to get more american citizens killed for oil,which leads to global warmth.Plus,these 2 pukebags found their way out of combat in S.E.ASIA,even though the Vietnam issue was about control of the opium triangle,which “daddy” Bush reigned over through his position as DDO of the C.I.A.
April 9th, 2007 at 4:28 pmThis is a criminal cartel,and criminals need to go to PRISON.This entire republican administration is full of criminal wrong doing,and their incompetence is destroying the country,and the rest of the world.Our “elected” officials took an oath to protect the U.S.Constitution,which they forgot about in their glee,after stealing the election TWICE.Traitors,unamerican,theives,liars and murders.IMPEACH,INDICT,&IMPRISON!
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